Search For Police Chief Put On Hold

Maroney Hopes To Keep Corvello On Permanently

NEWPORT NEWS — City Manager Ed Maroney has suspended a nationwide search for a new police chief. He hopes to persuade interim Chief William Corvello to keep the job permanently.

``I've had Chief Corvello here for almost three months, and he impresses me more every day,'' Maroney said Friday.

``If you find someone with the instant respect of the department and the community, you try to keep them,'' he said.

The manager will sit down with Corvello next week and suggest he stay on. ``I plan to talk to him about whether he'd stay with us for three or four years,'' Maroney said. ``It would provide a stabilizing effect.''

If Maroney and Corvello cannot come to an agreement, the manager said, the broader search - with help from four outside consulting firms - will resume.

Corvello, 62, would not say Friday whether he'd accept the job. ``It would not be right to say I haven't thought about it, but I need to allow the city manager to take the lead on this issue,'' he said.

``This is still an interim appointment with certain responsibilities, and those responsibilities include helping the manager look for a new chief.''

When he was tapped for the interim post, Corvello said he would not be a candidate for the permanent job.

Corvello, a former State Police superintendent, has been on the job since May, when he replaced former chief Jay Carey. Carey was forced to leave the post when investigations into a botched police sting operation revealed serious problems within the department.

Since then, city officials say, morale within the Police Department has rebounded, largely because of Corvello's leadership.

``I've met with 35 or 40 officers. Everyone has total respect for Corvello. They can't say enough about his credibility and personality,'' Maroney said.

Corvello joined the State Police in 1955. During the next 37 years, he moved up through the ranks, from trooper to superintendent, eventually commanding the 2,200-member department. He retired in 1992.

The manager said he appreciates Corvello's willingness to meet with officers, to ride along in patrol cars, to speak to neighborhood Crime Watch groups.

``I get daily suggestions for improvements from him. And wherever the action is, he's going to be there,'' Maroney said. He cited Corvello's decision to beef up forces in the East End, where there have been several recent gun incidents. And, he said, Corvello is working on a plan to reorganize the department, putting more police on the street.

City council members say they, too, have been impressed.

``I think he's done an excellent job. He's street smart, he came up through the ranks, he's very firm but also personable,'' said Councilman Vince Joseph.

``I don't want to interfere with the search, but if the manager wants to keep him on, I think it would be ideal,'' Williams said. ``It might be a chance for people within the department to grow. And maybe the next chief could come from within the ranks.''

Mayor Barry DuVal said Maroney shared his plan with him earlier in the week - and he likes it. ``I don't try to influence the manager in hiring decisions, but I have had calls and letters from officers as well as citizens telling me they want the chief to stay on.''

Comments like that make Maroney comfortable calling off the nationwide search.

``If the feedback I was getting from various people I've been dealing with had an ounce of negativism, I'd do the search,'' he said.

The city manager has sole responsibility for hiring a chief. He plans to formally discuss his plans with the City Council at its August meeting.